Publishing information on Armenia’s Armed Forces improper step to strategic ally - Anatoli Tsiganov

In an interview with Tert.am, Russian military expert Anatoli Tsiganov commented on military expert Alexander Khramchikhin’s analysis of Armenia’s Armed Forces.

According to him, it was not a proper step toward a military ally.

Moreover, he believes it means a spit at Armenian-Russian cooperation. On the other hand, Mr Tsiganov does not rule out that Mr Khramchikhin availed himself of the data by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Mr Tsiganov, Russia-based expert Alexander Khramchikhin released data on military secrets – the data on the units of the Armed Forces of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, their deployment, names and ammunition. What is your opinion? In any case, Armenian experts consider it an unfriendly step toward a strategic ally.

I think Alexander Khramchikhin acted in defiance of certain Russian-Armenian unpublished agreements. In any case, I do not consider it a proper step to release information on the Armed Forces of Nagorno-Karabakh for the public at large. And I fully share the Armenian experts’ opinion. The point is that I myself am well informed of the Armenian Army as I have conducted Caucasian studies for more than 15 years. However, I would never publish this information in the press. I think that by doing so he has just spat at Armenian-Russian cooperation.

Do you think the issue should be discussed in the frameworks of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO)?

I don’t think so, but I believe the issue needs to be raised at the CSTO to clarify on what grounds classified data regarding Nagorno-Karabakh appeared on the internet. What I can say is that Russia, which supplies Armenia with modern military equipment while selling it to Azerbaijan, maintains the parity between the two countries.

Isn’t it important to conduct an investigation in Russia to find out how Khramchikhin came into possession of those data? Do you think the information was made public without the knowledge the military circles?

I think Khramchikhin used the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s documents, which cover data on all countries. Probably because he knows English well, Khramchikhin published all the records that addressed Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. I believe the Ministry of Defense of Armenia has a chance to figure it out. Anyway, all the information is now public.